WO1997032499A1

WO1997032499A1 - In-shoe for sports footwear, in particular children's footwear

Info

Publication number: WO1997032499A1
Application number: PCT/EP1997/000890
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gino Conte
Original assignee: Roces S.R.L.
Priority date: 1996-03-05
Filing date: 1997-02-25
Publication date: 1997-09-12
Also published as: AU1876597A; ITVE960009U1; IT242161Y1

Abstract

An in-shoe for sports footwear, in particular children's footwear, comprising a vamp (2) joined to an insole (3) and provided with a longitudinal aperture (4) defining two cheeks (5) and to the front end of which there is fixed a tongue (6), characterised in that to said in-shoe there is applied, in the front region of the longitudinal aperture, an insert (7) formed of material of greater rigidity than the in-shoe, said insert being provided with a substantially V-shaped longitudinal aperture.

Description

IN-SHOE FOR SPORTS FOOTWEAR, IN PARTICULAR CHILDREN'S FOOTWEAR

This invention relates to an in-shoe for sports footwear, in particular children's footwear. Sports footwear are known comprising a rigid outer shell and an in- shoe which completely embraces the foot and prevents the foot, ankle and lower part of the leg from making any direct contact with the rigid outer shell.

This in-shoe generally consists of a vamp formed from soft spongy material, sewn along its lower edge to an insole of flexible material. The vamp longitudinally comprises a slot, to the front of which there is fixed a tongue, also of spongy material, which when the footwear is closed is interposed between the vertical cheeks of that portion of the in-shoe which embraces the user's leg.

This known in-shoe has however certain drawbacks, particularly arising when used by children. In particular:

- there is a certain difficulty in inserting it into the shell if it has been inadvertently extracted previously when withdrawing the foot from the footwear, due to the flexibility of the vamp;

- it often requires the user himself to vertically position the tongue between the two facing cheeks of that part of the in-shoe which embraces the leg and forefoot;

- it has to be manufactured in a size number corresponding to the size number of the footwear in which it is to be inserted.

These and further drawbacks which will be apparent from the description given hereinafter are attained according to the invention by an in- shoe for sports footwear, in particular children's footwear, as described in claim 1.

The present invention is described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a perspective view of an in-shoe according to the invention.

As can be seen from the drawing the in-shoe 1 according to the invention comprises substantially a vamp 2 formed from soft spongy material sewn along its lower edge to an insole 3 formed from flexible material and covered upperly with a layer of felt. The vamp 2 is provided at its front with a longitudinal slot 4 defining two cheeks 5, in correspondence with which there is provided a tongue 6 fixed to the front of the vamp in the cheek joining region.

In the region in which the tongue is fixed to the vamp there is also applied to the in-shoe a profiled insert 7 of substantially rigid plastic material, or in any event of material more rigid than the constituent material of the in- shoe.

Said insert, which finishes at the leg connection region, is provided with a substantially V-shaped longitudinal aperture 8.

The in-shoe has no toe-piece and the insole 3 extends as a rearwardly folded strap 9 to which there is applied a Velcro^® strip 10 cooperating with a corresponding Velcro^® strip 11 applied to the front end of the insert 7.

In the insert 7, to the side of the strip 11 , there are provided a plurality of numbered notches 12 indicating the position of engagement of the strap 9 with the strip 1 1 to obtain an in-shoe of size number corresponding to the notch number. From the aforegoing it is apparent that the in-shoe of the invention has numerous advantages, and in particular:

- it can be easily inserted into the shell because of the substantial rigidity of the insert,

- because of the shape of the insert and the aperture provided in it, the tongue can be inclined forward during the insertion of the foot, the tongue then returing to a centered position relative to the cheeks of the in-shoe,

- a single in-shoe can be used for shells of different sizes because of the facility for adjusting the strap 9 relative to the strip 11.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. An in-shoe for sports footwear, in particular children's footwear, comprising a vamp (2) joined to an insole (3) and provided with a longitudinal aperture (4) defining two cheeks (5) and to the front end of which there is fixed a tongue (6), characterised in that to said in-shoe there is applied, in the front region of the longitudinal aperture, an insert (7) formed of material of greater rigidity than the in-shoe, said insert being provided with a substantially V- shaped longitudinal aperture.

2. An in-shoe as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that the insert (7) is formed from rigid plastic material.

3. An in-shoe as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that the front end of the in-shoe extends as a rearwardly foldable strap (9) which can secured to the vamp by adhesion elements.

4. An in-shoe as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that the strap (9) is rigid with the insole (3) and can be secured to the vamp.

5. An in-shoe as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the adhesion elements consist of strips (10,11 ) of Velcro^® applied to the strap (9) and to the insert (7) respectively.

6. An in-shoe as claimed in claims 1 and 3, characterised in that numbered notches (12) are provided to the sides of the strip (1 1 ) applied to the insert (7).